Our Life As We Live It

Crazy Celocatra

2011-11-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when your cat converts to Isam...wait, I mean when your cat gets behind the water heater...

A Return to ECU

2011-11-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

We returned to ECU to watch them take on Tulane last Saturday. It was in the 40's and very windy. We bundled up and had a great time.

Trunk or Treat

2011-10-29T04:25:00.000-07:00

Our church hosted a "Trunk or Treat" for the north Raleigh community last night. Even though the temperature was in the 40's and wet, there was a huge turnout. We had never been involved in an event like this but it was alot of fun.

East Carolina Football

2011-10-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

We returned again to Greenville, NC to watch ECU play football. They beat UAB in this game. It rained briefly but we were prepared.

North Carolina State Fair in Pictures

2011-10-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

New Opossum

2011-10-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

This Fall we have a new little opossum that visits us nightly. He is scared of cats...obviously...

Mr. Sprinkles (March 7, 2003 - August 14, 2011)

2011-08-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

We are very sad to report that our oldest cat, Mr. Sprinkles, has passed on to pet heaven. He lost a short battle with renal failure last night. He touched many lives along the way and has stuck by our side no matter what happened in our daily lives. For those of you that never met him, he was a stray cat that wandered up to our home in mid-town Memphis in February, 2006. At that time, he was very ill and was suffering from FIV. Despite our best attempts at experimental treatments, we were forced to have all of his teeth pulled in Baltimore, MD in 2007 to preserve his immune system. Since then, he has led an adventurous and happy life along side his best friend, Ms. Marble. Over the past two weeks, his appetite had suddenly declined and yesterday morning his body gave up due to renal failure. We are happy his ending was short and that he did not suffer. He deserved to exit this life with dignity. He will be sorely missed by everyone that had the honor of knowing him.

Signage of WY/ID/MT

2011-07-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

I love old and antique signs. I always make an effort to photograph unique signs of the past when I travel. Below is a collection of photos of various signs I saw while traveling in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.

Wyoming/Montana/Idaho

2011-07-11T05:18:00.000-07:00

Over the July 4th weekend, Johna had a medical conference to attend in Jackson Hole, Wyoming so I tagged along and we took a few extra days to explore. We had previously visited the area back in 2005 on a grand tour of the mountain west but it was nice to focus on the Jackson area. We stayed at the Hotel Terra in Teton Village which we highly recommend if you are ever in this area. We ventured over into Idaho a few times and spent one day re-visiting some of Yellowstone. On the return trip to Jackson, however, we took an alternative route back through West Yellowstone, Montana and back down through Idaho. We also rode horses in the Grand Teton National Park.

San Francisco

2011-07-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

I recently attended a CLE in San Francisco so we took the opportunity to do some of the touristy stuff while we were out there. We visited Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, rode the trolleys, took in fisherman's wharf (and some clam chowder), and walked Lombard Street. Below are some random photos from the trip.

Lizard Licked

2011-04-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to eastern North Carolina, we stopped off on the east side of our county to see the shop where Lizard Lick Towing is filmed (TruTV - All Worked Up). You might have seen the little hut set up in the parking lot on television...well, that is a small gift shop. We stopped in, entered the door and began looking around when to our surprise Amy Shirley was sitting behind the counter. We struck up a conversation, got invited to meet up with the rest of the cast that afternoon and took some photos. Really nice folks. Below are some photos from our adventures.

Selma Train Station

2011-04-23T05:39:00.000-07:00

I recently made one of my usual runs to Selma to look for antique signs/license plates and decided to stop over at the historic train station. The station, including Selma itself, has quite a history. I would invite everyone to read some of the history of this station and town. The most amazing fact is that one of the residents of Selma invented the salve that is now known as Vick's Vapo Rub. It was sold out of Joshua Vick's Drugstore in downtown Selma.

Here of some pics of the train station - nicely preserved, museum-like appearance.

Oaky Grove Church / Mial Plantation - Clayton, North Carolina

2011-03-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

As one that is fascinated with any historical structure, I visited the Oaky Grove Church in Clayton, North Carolina yesterday. After hearing about this place from a friend, we did a little research and found some interesting events in North Carolina history have taken place here. The general area is often referred to as Mial Plantation. Mial Plantation was one of the original land grants in North Carolina - the land acquired by Mallichi Hinton in 1761 "from Lord Granville of England." The farm became one of the largest post-Civil War agricultural operations in Wake County, with over 2,700 acres and at least twelve tenant families growing cotton, corn, and some tobacco in the late nineteenth century. A local Raleigh resident retains a lion's share of the land that has not been sold off for residential development - a tract of 345 acres.

The plantation, owned and operated by members of the interrelated Mial and Williamson families since 1775, was one of Wake County's largest and most prominent cotton plantations throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although the main house was destroyed by fire in 1973, many of the plantation's core buildings still survive. One structure, Oaky Grove Methodist Church, is a shining example of Greek Revival architecture and served the plantation land and its neighbors from its construction in 1876 for a then-staggering sum of $600. Interestingly, the church was relocated to this current spot. Many folks report that the church was built by request of a man's fiance. She claimed that she would not marry him until he built the church.
In some disrepair it stands proudly guarding its small cemetery out back and is flanked by some outbuildings some distance away. One of these served as one of the first schools in the county (Frog Pond Academy).

This area was the encampment of General Johnston during the Civil War, as it is the highest point in Eastern Wake County.

The steeple on the church is not original. The steeple now crowns a Catholic Church in Salisbury, NC (allegedly). The steeple was destroyed by fire in the early twentieth century.

Overall, this is a beautiful area enriched with history. I'll be back to visit again.

Giving it up.....(or at least backing off)

2011-03-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm not Catholic, but since I'm hearing my Catholic friends "giving something up for Lent" maybe I will too (sort of). I have an addiction: coffee. And I don't mean a little addiction. I drink two large cups full every morning, which probably equals about four regular cups. And what do I like in it? LOTS of cream and splenda. So, by the time I drink all of that I have probably had the calories equivalent to a piece of cheesecake. Even writing this out makes me realize that I need to back off.

So! For the next 5 weeks, until Easter, I am limiting myself to a total of five cups of coffee. That's one cup per week. Wow. I hope I don't have withdrawal headaches coming off of the caffeine.

Are any of you TOTALLY addicted to coffee too?

Church

2011-03-04T06:22:00.000-08:00

Well, after ten years of searching for a church home since we've been married (and moving around 7 times hasn't helped) we finally found one in North Raleigh Church of Christ. Finding a rather conservative church that reflected our beliefs was actually a lot harder to find than one would have thought. And then when you finally find that, is it a place where you feel that you belong?

I will be honest, the first four or five months we went there, we were sporatically attending. It then dawned on me that if we wanted to become part of the church family that we needed to jump in and participate in things. This church is not a huge church. I think maybe for church (not Sunday School) that there are usually about 200 on the attendance report. So, maybe a tad bigger than the churches we grew up in, but still small enough for my liking. And of course, we don't have kids, so it made it a little harder to really jump in and meet people.

We joined the church a few weeks ago, and then an interesting thing happened. And honestly, I thought it was a GREAT idea that they did. Did you know that about 20% of the people in a church do about 80% of the work? Really, it's probably true. So, they wanted to get other people involved. What did they do? They held a "job fair" in place of Sunday School last week called "All In Sunday". Each ministry set up a table and you could read about it and the ministry leader would answer questions and you could sign up to help with any of the ministries that you felt led to do.

So, I signed up to keep the nursery, to be on the meals ministry (take meals to the sick, new babies, after funerals, etc), the card ministry, to be involved in the ladies' book club, go to the ladies Tues morning groups and Wed night groups (when I'm not working--which is more than 50% of the time). Mark signed up to help mow the church property, do carpentry work, serve communion and help with the offering plates on Sundays, and on the Habitat for Humanity building team. Had they not had this, I'm not so sure we would have done all of that. I think that is true for a lot of other people as well.

So, you'll probably be hearing me blog a bit on the different things we're doing with the church family. I am excited to have these people in our life here.

And I would walk five hundred miles.......

2011-03-03T04:33:00.000-08:00

Remember that song? I used to love it, and really, it was a stupid song. But I have decided that during the month of March I am going to walk, not 500, but 100 miles. Now, for runners I'm sure this doesn't seem like much. But I've been pretty sedentary for a while, so this is a big deal. But the weather is getting nicer and I'm quite tired of gaining weight. I'm one of those "when I get stressed, I eat" people. And lately? I've been stressed a bit. So, time to do something about all of these extra pounds before summer gets here.

So, now that I've blogged about it......you all have to hold me accountable! (Thanks for that idea Arika!)

San Antonio, TX (Part II)

2011-01-14T01:50:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve in San Antonio

2011-01-13T02:30:00.000-08:00

We celebrated NYE in San Antonio with our friends, the Hoffmans. We enjoyed a dinner at a great local Mexican restaurant. We had (I know you all are dying to know what we ate) sweet potato tacos (actually I think they were called something different, but same idea). Sounds gross, but they were gooood.

We decided to venture out to the Haagen Dazs for ice cream, only to find that they were closed. :( But! We found a neat little place that had frozen yogurts/ice cream. I laughed so hard when my friend Joy told me that she asked if they had mint chocolate chip. The young guy looked and scraped enough to to give her a sample and then proceeded to tell her that he was out of it. hahaha Her response "Great. So, I can taste what I'm NOT having."

We ate dinner New Year's night at a great little Texas BBQ place on the Riverwalk. You have to understand that this riverwalk is extremely narrow and has no guard rails. The path is mostly right at the edge of the river, but occassionally winds inward a bit and allows for some restaurant seating right at the river's edge. So this restaurant had a small seating area right at the river's edge, which is where we sat. At the end of the meal, we got ready to leave and I pushed my chair back and heard a gasp! My dining chair fell into the river and was sinking and flowing away. A nice man helped me pull the chair out of the river. But oh, my. Where else would I lose a dining chair in a river?

We were also very lucky that we ended up leaving on Jan 3rd because you know what was happening on Jan 3rd? They were draining the river and cleaning it. They get out all of the cameras, cell phones, and I bet some chairs too! LOL Actually, it would have been pretty darn interesting to see what all was in the bottom of the three foot deep river.

San Antonio, TX (Days 1 and 2)

2011-01-12T01:09:00.000-08:00

At least every other year we try to plan a little vacation with our close friends from Memphis. This year we met up with them in San Antonio, TX. A place Mark and I have been wanting to visit for a while. The Riverwalk was fascinating to us. We stayed at a hotel right on the Riverwalk so we had quick and easy access to eating (most important!) and were pretty central to the attractions.

Mark took these first two pictures in the early morning before anybody was up!

The second day we drove up to Austin, the state capitol. We were very impressed with their visitor's center.

Yes, I am even surprised I am posting this one on the blog. LOL

A picture of us with the Capitol in the background.

And our friends, the Hoffmans.

Apparently I did a lot of this as well. Who isn't addicted to their phone?

Christmas Party

2011-01-09T01:05:00.000-08:00

We hosted the monthly dinner party at our house this past December with a Christmas theme. I'm late posting these. We played the "dirty santa" game with really bad gifts everyone was looking to unload (not quite gag gifts).

Dinner with Neighbors

2011-01-07T01:30:00.000-08:00

I think these pics were taken mid-December. Our neighbors came over for dinner and we enjoyed spending time with them.

And there is a new baby on the way for the Quinn Family!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

As you may have guessed, my husband has been doing some of the last few posts on some renovations he has done around the house. Don't they look great?!! I have been so impressed with what he has accomplished.

So, how many of you made New Year resolutions? I asked Mark what his were and he replied "I don't believe in them." LOL I LOVE making lists, more than actually following through with the lists, really. I feel like the new year is a time that you get to hit the reset button and try and do better. And you know there are millions of people doing it with you too! Well, I have some that I'll share with you.

1. To Eat Better. I don't eat a very balanced diet. I frequently eat what is convenient, which has blessed me with the new cushioning I have attached to my thighs. I am not resolving to lose weight (while I am hoping that will be an added bonus) but to eat healthier. I started wondering if grocery stores see a boost in their fresh foods or diet foods in January since I know a bunch of people are wanting to lose weight.

2. To Waste Less Time. I work fewer days of the week than most. But on the days I do work I work LONG days. Hence, the convenience foods. So, on the days that I have off, I tend to relax for extended periods of time. Such as staying in my pajamas and sipping coffee until 1 p.m. I suppose it is healthy to a certain degree, but I feel like I should be doing something more productive. So, "waste less time" is a general resolution. Maybe I should just say "get out of my pajamas by 10 a.m." which is a 3 hour improvement, ey?

3. Study God's Word. I bought a book a couple of months ago on understanding the Bible. It goes through each book of the Bible and helps you pull together all of those stories that you've heard a million times, and see the bigger picture. I want to try to apply His word to my life on a daily basis.

4. Keep In Touch. This will be the year that I do a much better job of keeping in touch with friends and family. I have done a embarrassingly poor job of that the past couple of years. I read emails that people send me right away, and think "I'll write them back in just a minute" and that turns into days which then is taken over by my forgetfulness.

5. Post Comments On Blogs. I read so many blogs and never post comments. Why? I really don't know why. I LOVE to get comments on my blog and I know other people do too. So, this will be the year that I post comments (not always, but more frequently) on blogs or Facebook statuses.

6. Be Better. Try to be a better wife, daughter, friend, practitioner. Just in general. I want to be better.

7. Projects. I want to start finishing up on the projects we have for the house. This year I want to finish the office/study, and possibly the master bathroom. I want to do a better job of organizing as well.

8. Blog. I really love to blog. But I am a horrible procrastinator. I am pledging to blog at least once a week. And it will still count if my husband guest blogs!! But I enjoy so much of reading old posts and seeing what we do throughout the year.

What are YOUR resolutions? I am interested to hear!!

Base/Plinth Installation

2010-12-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

Just prior to the hardwood floor installation, I had put in a temporary base/plinth design at the bottom of the new wraps I built at the entrance of the dining room. Since I'm in between major projects, this made a great time to circle back and finish these wraps once and for all. The temporary design is below.

To dress up the wraps, I wanted a simple build-up design that added dimension where the wrap met the floor. The possibilities here are endless. I decided to keep the design in the theme I had with the other moulding I had put in throughout the home. The first step was to put in a base/plinth that was higher than the baseboard yet shorter than the cut-out design. I went with a sixth inch height. I cut MDF to size on the table saw and mitered the edges on the compound miter saw. MDF was a good choice for the blocks as MDF is stable (when not around water) and takes paint like a champ. It produces alot of dust so be careful when cutting. The mitered edges avoided my having to fill the rough/porous edges. Below is the dry fit.

After the dry fit was good, I attached the blocks with an 18-guage pneumatic nail gun. Senco is nailer brand I prefer - typically used by the pros so it is good enough for me.

Next, I attached a shoe mould over the block to provide a simple transition to the wrap surface and re-attached/adjusted the base moulding.

Next, I tapped off the surrounding areas and painted the area. When painting crucial projects like this, I go with the best paint possible. That is, Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore. The paints like Behr and Valspar provide great colors but the quality cannot compare. Thus, when it matters most, I go with the good stuff. In this case, I used Duration from Sherwin. This is a paint/primer in-one mixture that is by far the best paint I have used in the past 15 years - no comparison. This particular paint is exterior paint - yep - exterior paint. You can use exterior paint on the interior...but never vise versa. Don't make that mistake.

Cut/install the shoe moulding...and you have the finished product.

Custom Wood Range Hood

2010-12-18T11:14:00.000-08:00

The final renovation project for the kitchen is now finished!! After much planning and design, I built and installed a custom wood range hood. Thankfully I am somewhat adept with woodworking as the same cabinet design was quoted to us at over $2,000 which was a total ripoff. If you search the internet for resources for building such a hood, there is very little out there. Some of the best ideas I got came from touring homes that were in the process of being custom built.

Below are the photos showing progression of the installation.

Demolition - removed the previous cabinet - when we moved in the house, a microwave was installed below the cabinet. Now the microwave rests in the center island. It was quite painful cutting through the cabinet's three-layer crown I custom built two years ago but it had to be done.

I pre-built a frame to exact specifications to enclose the blower surround (bottom) yet fit perfectly in the space between the cabinets. Not exactly a job for the faint of heart. Went in the first time with no problems. Sides built out of 3/4" birch hardwood/plywood and framed with the help of a KREG pocket hole jig set. I set the depth such that the hood would come outward 6" from the existing cabinets - certainly adds dimension to the cabinets now. I also applied birch edge-band (hot melted) on the sides' bottom edges.

Installed the base blower/power pack very easily. Manufacturer of blower sold surround to fit perfectly. Luckily my electrical was in place from the old microwave.

Custom built my own duct work.

Attached the front frame - built out of 1 x 4 and 1 x 6 S4S and put together with the help of a KREG pocket hole jig set, of course. Corbels, courtesy of amazon.com, were attached in anticipation of holding a shelf.

Repaired existing crown and installed new crown to match. Built/installed a shelf. Routed out a channel for displaying any dish we choose (example dish shown)....and here you have it!!...

Birthday and Snow

2010-12-04T11:31:00.000-08:00

Today is Johna's birthday and a gift of white powder has arrived. We're taking the day of rough weather to get some holiday baking done.

Tom Silva? Norm Abrams? No..Mr. Sprinkles

2010-11-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

Just ran across these photos I took this past spring while doing some restoration work on a window. I had a little help from my friend, Mr. Sprinkles.

Garage Transformation Part II

2010-11-14T18:45:00.000-08:00

The garage transformation continues. After what seemed like an eternity of mudding and sanding, I applied a sealer to the bare drywall to prepare the surface for paint. Next, I extended the color scheme of the interior out to the garage. I installed baseboards to provide a nice set-off and living space feeling. Finally, I began installing window sills/casings with a new coat of paint.

Garage (Man Cave) Transformation Begins

2010-11-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

The garage is our latest demolition area. After two years as serving as a disorganized yet functional base camp for interior woodworking/remodeling projects, it was high time the garage got its turn at a manly makeover. Code in NC only requires the walls that correspond to an interior room to have insulation and drywall. This had to change - bare studs are not appealing and the garage was freezing in the winter. The result was a bonus room above the garage with uncontrollable temps and a cold place for woodworking.

The first step was insulation...and alot of it. R13 in between the wall studs and R19 in the attic/ceiling. This alone has already made a big difference in temps in the bonus room and garage.

The next step was to hang drywall. As usual, I'm a one-man show on my remodeling projects so I've spent two solid weekends cutting, hanging, and mudding floor to ceiling. The drywall is 5/8" fire rated so it is super heavy - taking about 1400 lbs of drywall for this project alone. Below are some pics of the progression.

Drywall is but the first step here...epoxy flooring, base moldings, decorative paint design, new lighting, insulated garage doors, etc. all to come on this big project. The ultimate goal is to have a clean, crisp, organized space for the cars that will also double as a woodworking area...not to mention an extra place to hang out and watch the game.

Pretty much buttoned up at this point...installed new electrical outlets in anticipation of under-shelf lighting over my workbench...and hopefully a flat-panel television at the top outlet for a man-cave touch.

Parents Visit

2010-11-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

My parents recently visited us. We spent one day on the coast visiting Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington. We highly recommend the Oceanic restaurant if you are over in this area.

Bear Island - North Carolina

2010-09-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

We recently visited Hammocks Beach State Park and took a ferry out to Bear Island. The ferry service runs from the Hammocks Beach State Park headquarters on the mainland to Bear Island via Cow Channel. While the ride, which some 200,000 people a year take, is only 15 minutes long, it is narrow and winding. It offers a great spot to launch kayaks so we will be returning with our kayaks once the weather is cooler and no hurricanes are in sight.

Due to its location, Bear Island and nearby Huggins Island have often played a role in the protection of the mainland. During the Civil War, Confederate troops on Bear Island defended it against Union forces.

We also had the rare opportunity to view loggerhead turtles making their way to the surf. This was truly a rare event to witness such a sight. Our photos were requested to be provided to the state of North Carolina for education programs. We obliged.

FYI...Loggerhead turtles are the most abundant of all the marine turtle species in U.S. waters. But persistent population declines due to pollution, shrimp trawling, and development in their nesting areas, among other factors, have kept this wide-ranging seagoer on the threatened species list since 1978. Mature females will often return, sometimes over thousands of miles, to the beach where they hatched to lay their eggs.

Memphis vs. East Carolina University (ECU) Football Game

2010-09-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we attended the University of Memphis vs ECU game in Greenville, NC. Some friends of ours are alums with season tickets so we tagged along. The folks in east carolina take their football seriously. There were 50K people in attendance. Sadly, the game was not very good as ECU scored 28 points in the first quarter before Memphis woke up from the plane ride. Better luck next time for Memphis!

Victoria, British Columbia

2010-09-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

We visited Victoria, British Columbia on our final stop before heading back to Seattle. Victoria was a beautiful town with lots of shopping, restaurants and beautiful architecture.

Ketchikan, Alaska - Salmon Capital

2010-09-06T02:08:00.000-07:00

Ketchikan relies on tourism and fishing, and the city is known as the "Salmon Capital of the World." For those interested in politics, the ½-mile-wide channel called the Tongass Narrows separates Ketchikan from Gravina Island (where Ketchikan International Airport is located) is now famous. In August 2005 the 2005 Highway Bill provided for $223m to build the Gravina Island Bridge (nicknamed "the Bridge to Nowhere" by its critics) between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Ketchikan also hosts members of the "The Deadliest Catch" crew regularly.

On our day in Ketchikan, we took a short bus ride at 6AM through town and out to another bay area to go out salmon fishing. We were accompanied by a man and his son who were visiting from the Caymans. We caught about a dozen salmon (king, pink, silver). We witnessed many eagles and even trolled past a lighthouse on our trip. Our captain offered to smoke/ship the salmon to us back home, albeit for a hefty fee, but we declined.

We returned and did some shopping in town before heading back to the ship to head to Victoria, British Columbia.

Glacier Bay National Park - Alaska

2010-09-02T18:04:00.000-07:00

We spent nearly an entire day cruising through Glacier Bay National Park viewing glaciers and wildlife. Photos cannot do this day justice but we provide a sample here. We got up at 5AM and claimed a prime table/chairs on a back deck of the ship. The temperature was in the 40's so we put on layers and hit the coffee machines pretty hard. We stayed outside for about nine hours so we were very glad we had packed some warm clothes. The unfortunate part of having a great photo spot on the ship was constantly being ask to play photographer for the 3,000 others that woke up at 10AM. At any rate, the scenery was unbelievable and we even witnessed some small brown bears eating a beached whale carcass. Rangers from the park boarded the ship and narrated the major glaciers/attractions. We would highly recommend this park (and the cruise for that matter) to anyone that loves the wild outdoors and raw natural wonders.

Yukon territory, Canada

2010-08-15T02:28:00.000-07:00

The train ride that took us into the Yukon territory was fantastic. We got to see some very remote and beautiful places. We went into Fraser, Yukon, Canada. Small place....in fact, the only people that live there are the border patrol officers! It is a subartic tundra and the temps go to 60 below zero in the winter. Needless to say, I still needed my long sleeves and fleece in July.

Skagway, Alaska

2010-08-13T02:25:00.000-07:00

Just chillin' out with a cup of coffee after breakfast. We were in Skagway on Wednesday. It also is a fairly isolate little town, but I believe it's one that you can drive to at least. It has about 2400 residents in the summer and then after tourist season is over, it goes down to 400 residents. One tiny little IGA grocery store that is absolutely OUTRAGEOUS in its prices (ask me how I know this---I needed some Crystal Light at $6 and Bottled water at $2.90 each!)

We did book an excursion here on the train that took us through the old gold mining country and up into the Yukon territory (or is it a province?) of Canada....a place I never thought I'd get to go.

But while in Skagway, I couldn't not shop and go to the Sarah Palin store!

Juneau, Alaska

2010-08-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

See this little town at the base of the mountain? Well, that's Juneau....the state's capitol. It didn't seem that big. But was nice.

The Alaska Governor's mansion. I'm sure you all remember seeing it in on the news a lot when Sarah Palin lived there.

Juneau is apparently a city you pretty much can't drive to. You have to come in by plane or ferry or cruise ship. It did look a little rough around the edges, but everyone seemed very nice.

Seattle

2010-08-03T01:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon we flew into Seattle, Washington to catch a cruise ship to Alaska. We've been wanting to take an Alaskan cruise for quite a while and finally decided to do it. Because of the total 7 hours of flying time from east coat to west coast, it was a good idea to fly into Seattle the day before so that we wouldn't be rushed.

We flew Southwest, and had a very short layover at Midway in Chicago. We forgot to check in online early and didn't get to sit together. That's one of the few things I dislike about Southwest.....no assigned seating. Ugh. We arrived at about 10 p.m. Pacific time and after a forty dollar cab ride to the hotel, we didn't get in bed until about 11:30pm, which is 2:30 a.m. eastern time.....needless to say it was WAY past our bedtime. But with our bodies still on eastern time, we were wide awake at 5:30 a.m. and the sun was coming up. We have an awesome view of the bay from our hotel windows. Mark did an awesome job of finding this great little boutique hotel, El Gaucho.

Hunger started to set in and we decided to take a walk at 6 a.m. The temp is in the 50s here, a nice break from the 100 degree weather we've been experiencing in Raleigh. We hit a Starbucks for breakfast, and then I simply HAD to get my coffee from the ORIGINAL/VERY FIRST EVER Starbucks down in Pike's Place by the water. I was shocked at how small it was. They didn't sell anything but coffee (and it's variations), no muffins, etc. And there was not a single place to sit. Very different from the Starbucks we're used to nowadays.

After that, we went down near the water and took some pictures. Unfortunately, the lighting was terrible and you can't see the snow capped mountains in the background very well. Then we walked several blocks to see the Space Needle. Neat to see it in person. And then we went on a quest to find a Rite Aid that was supposed to be near the hotel to acquire the MANY things that we forgot to pack--both of our razors, hair products, his deodorant, dental floss, shaving gel, and much more. Yeah. I did a pretty poor job of packing this time. I will be making a list of items to pack so that this doesn't happen again.

The Original Starbucks. Or, as Shonda said "The Mothership". LOL

Guess where we've been....

2010-08-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some hints:

New Hair Do

2010-07-29T02:57:00.000-07:00

I finally got brave and went pretty short with my hair. I had envisioned an even shorter stack in the back, but was a little nervous to do it this time and told my stylist that I'd do it next time (maybe). I love Whitney at Salon Blu here in Raleigh. She totally rocks!!

So, Friday was a pretty busy day. I had a routine check up with my NP that morning, then errands after that. Followed by a lunch meeting with my collaborating physician and then a hair appt. Then, ran home to make dinner for Mark before getting dressed and heading out to meet two girlfriends for dinner at Nantucket Grill. We are so sad that our friends Will and Karen will be moving to Cincinnati this fall. Will took a fantastic promotion within his engineering firm and we are so happy for them. We certainly plan to visit!

Mayberry USA

2010-07-25T02:28:00.000-07:00

Mt. Airy, NC is Andy Griffith's hometown and what Mayberry in the show is based on. It's about 2 hours from where we live. Mark's mom came to visit us the middle of June and thought she'd like to see it, so we went. It is a very small town and relies heavily on the tourism---it is obvious.

Above is Wally's Service Station. There is also an old squad car there that you can take a tour of Mayberry in, but it was gone. Below is a photo of the outside of the Andy Griffith Museum.

And the Mayberry Courthouse. Loads of photos being taken there.

Andy and Opie going fishing....and Mark tagging along.

Apparently you can still get $8 haircuts at Floyd's Barber Shop.

Little Simon

2010-07-20T02:08:00.000-07:00

I have probably mentioned a time or two or two hundred that we love our neighbors. We really couldn't have better neighbors than the ones we have here. Little Simon below is sporting the tee shirt we brought him back from NYC. Sprinkles loves Simon. Something I never ever thought he would like--kids. He will come over and see Simon when he is in the neighbors' yard and sit by him.

June Dinner Club

2010-07-17T14:07:00.000-07:00

We hosted dinner club in June and I just haven't posted pictures. So, here ya go. Mark and Randy talking. Oh, and those red curtains with the monkeys on them did end up looking good in my kitchen! You can see them in the pic below. I think they add some much needed "punch" to the black, cream and gray room.

Everyone had a really good time. We served pork tenderloin, and chicken rotel casserole. I was so surprised that the chicken rotel was such a hit. And the yummy chocolate bread pudding with ice cream or yogurt for dessert.

Three members were absent, but we added a new couple to the group. Susanne above in the pink shirt to the left and her husband John.

Dinner club for July was on July 3rd and I just simply forgot to take pictures. I know, this nonsense has got to stop!!

Random Updates

2010-06-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

Things have been quite busy around these parts lately. So, I'll just give you some bullet point random updates:

-We're re-doing the deck. Or shall I say Mark is redoing the deck. He has replaced nearly every piece of wood and just has to finish the railing and then we're done. I really do wish the deck here was bigger, but it's insane all of the things you have to get inspected by the city and approved by the HOA. It's just too much to fool with.

-I bought a treadmill. I have a terrible track history of buying lot of expensive exercise equipment and then just letting it sit and gather dust. So, Mark was less than thrilled that I had purchased this. But, to my credit I bought it for just $100 from a friend. It's got all of the bells and whistles, but at a fraction of the price! It's upstairs in the bonus room where I can watch television while exercising, and nobody has to look at it. I agreed to Mark that if I don't regularly use it within the next 3 months, I'll give it away on Craigslist.

-I am hosting dinner club next Saturday. Pork tenderloin and chicken rotel are what's on the menu.

-We need to buy a grill. I had thought that we'd just get one of the lower end stainless steel grills at Lowes for around $200 and then after a few years just throw it out once it's half broken. At least that's what we've done in the past. But since we're in the market for a grill, we've been paying more attention to what our friends own. Mostly Weber grills. They've had them for several years and get this: the ignitor hasn't gone out!!! The life span of the ignitor seems to be about 1-2 years on the more basic grills. They have been so happy with Weber. So, that's what we've decided to go with.

-I have just discovered GoGurt. I thought this stuff wasn't real yogurt and was some bad for you kid's snack. But it's not! It's real yogurt that you can freeze and take with you and then eat it later. It's awesome!! The only down side is that except for strawberry, the flavors are very weird. Things that kids would like such as cotton candy and "bikini bottom berry"---which seems a tad questionable as to where on earth they came up with that one for a kids snack. I'd much prefer vanilla. Guess that's not so popular with the juvenile crowd.

-Also, I have learned to make my own hummus. People, we have been WAY overpaying for this for years. This stuff comes in a 80 cent can as chick peas and you just put in in the blender (or food processor) with a little S&P, cumin, and garlic powder. It is THAT easy. No need to go pay $4 for a tiny container like we've been doing.

-On the television front, I have started watching Police Women of Memphis. Yes, we enjoy this program thoroughly. Especially recognizing most of the areas they're going to in and around Midtown Memphis. Sad, really. But the show is quite hilarious.

Mark is asleep at 4:30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon in the chair next to me while I'm watching "Ice Road Truckers" or whatever it's called. Pretty good show. Its been soooo hot today. Aside from my morning trip to the grocery store, I've stayed inside and cleaned and done dishes, laundry and cooked. Now, I'm off to eat some of that carrot souffle. Have a good weekend!

Cleocatra, our newest (and final) addition

2010-05-14T01:38:00.000-07:00

Isn't she just a little fuzzy doll?! She is absolutely precious. But I needed to get her checked out as well as Miss Marble. And Sprinkles was also due for his rabies shot and general check-up. But no way was I about to haul three cats in carriers to the vet. Nor was I about to make three separate trips. So, we called the mobile vet. The veterinarian comes to YOUR HOUSE. Yes, it was wonderful. I brought each one out to the bus to be checked and get their shots and have blood taken. Sooo much easier. Cleocatra is about 8 months old, in good health except that she needs to be spayed which we'll do within the next two weeks. Sprinkles acted the worst of the three cats. But he is looking good in all areas of health. (Thankfully!) But the big surprise of the day was Miss Marble. As it turns out, Miss Marble is a boy. Guess he'll have to be Mr. Marble now. He has a heart murmur grade 2/5. We just need to watch it. Not really sure what they'll do for it it he does become symptomatic though.

But overall, the mobile vet service is something that I HIGHLY recommend. The vet was smart, nice, and great with the cats.

Nags Head, NC

2010-05-13T01:39:00.000-07:00

After Manteo, we skipped over to Nags Head, NC. The Outer Banks are very beautiful. It ended up being in the 60's so it was a tad cool on Sunday. We really did need a light jacket to be comfortable. But boy is it beautiful there! Ocracoke is my favorite, but that really would have required an overnight stay to not be so terribly rushed. Maybe another time.

Jockey's ridge. The largest Sand Dune on the Atlantic coast. And of all things, there is a hang gliding school there.

Manteo, North Carolina

2010-05-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

My "bestest friend" from Memphis came to visit me for four fabulous days! Our first stop was Manteo, NC. aka where Andy Griffith lives now. Unfortunately we didn't run into him. But we did eat lunch at a really cool little restaurant called Full Moon Cafe in the harbor. There was also a lighthouse involved. That's always a plus for us!

We walked through the little town and down to the boardwalk.

Oh lala! The lighthouse!

The cafe we ate at:

And some ship that's part of a kids place there

Blogworthy?

2010-04-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of pictures with this post. I took a blogging break as my parents came to visit for a week and I just spent all of the time with them rather than on the computer. Of course I kept my iPhone handy to keep up with Facebook!

Let's see, things that have been going on: We have a third cat. Sigh. Yes, I know. That's the limit. We really tried to find this little third cat a home but had no takers. She is sooooo sweet and such a good kitty. Can't be more than a year old. The other two cats are not yet too fond of her. Mark was in charge of naming her: Cleocatra. Very original. But I just hope we're not now known as "those people with all of the cats." You know, those people. It kind of bothered me that when Mark was outside petting the cats and all three came up around him, a neighbor walking by said "Are you the Pied Piper of Cats?". Yeah. That's what I mean. Two cats is okay, but three? Eh. People start to notice.

I had a really good visit with my parents. We ate well and did lots of just being lazy. It was great.

Today I was off work and went shopping and to lunch with a friend. I FINALLY after like two years got my engagement ring fixed so I can wear it again. Platinum is a soft metal and I was wearing my ring at work when I bent the prongs by putting on/taking off gloves. I won't be wearing it to work again. We ate at Macaroni Grill for lunch and did you know that they actually have a decent selection of lower calorie options? I had a chicken shish kabob thing except that they call it something else. It was incredibly filling and 360 calories!

Back to work tomorrow but thankfully I'm off this weekend. So, kayaking it is!

Recipe Thursday: Chocolate Chip Scones

2010-04-08T02:45:00.000-07:00

I love scones. I love that they're not very sweet and you don't feel all too sugared up after you eat them. Yet they are still a wonderful treat. It's what I get almost every time I go to Starbucks. But you can make these at home VERY easily. You don't need a scone pan or anything special.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick of butter (unsalted, or if all you have is salted then just don't add the extra salt)
1 cup chocolate chips
8 Tbsp of orange juice (I didn't have any OJ; just an orange so I squeezed the juice out of it. Also, the OJ is completely optional. I think it does give it a little extra flavor, but if you don't have it then just use milk or water instead and it will turn out just fine.)

Next, mix all of your dry ingredients together. Then cut your butter into the dry ingredients a little pat at a time until your mix is all nice and flaky, just as if you were making a pie crust. Once it hits that consistency, you can toss in your chocolate chips and then the orange juice. You will get a doughy consistency.

Put some wax paper out on the counter (or you can do this directly on a clean counter, but the wax paper makes cleaning up the mess easier.) Then toss some flour on the wax paper. You can dump your dough right in the flour.

Put flour on top too so it's easier to work with. Now make a rectangle with the dough. Then cut it in fours and then into triangles.

Place them on a baking stone or baking sheet. It will be easier to transfer then with a pie server or spatula so the dough doesn't break off. Bake at 400 degrees for about 12-15 mins or until it is a nice golden brown on top.

Mmmmm. These are so yummy. They are a great treat for when company comes as you can make them ahead of time and they're ready!

First Kayaking trip

2010-04-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

Mark and I went on our first kayaking trip at a lake very near our home. Yall, it was FUN!! I have a bit of learning to do as you are not supposed to paddle with your arms and shoulders (as I was doing), but with your core muscles. And mine are uber weak. So, I'll be giving that a little try next time. We did a round trip of about 6 miles. The lake was absolutely FULL of pollen. This is going to be a fun was to get some exercise. Beats running on a treadmill.

Our 10th Anniversary

2010-04-01T02:00:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago today I married my best friend. I never knew what an incredible ride our life would be. We have lived in many different places, traveled all over, supported each other in tough times and celebratory times. Some people wait a long time to find each other. But I was lucky enough to have met you early in life.

The picture above was taken right after our wedding. We had a dinner reservation at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Nashville. I had forgotten about this picture until I found it on an old CD Rom.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.
It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
I Corinthians 13:4-8

Recipe Thursday (on Wednesday): Chocolate Chess Pie

2010-03-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this a day early because I have a different post for tomorrow. :)

Okay, this is a huge crowd pleaser for the chocolate lover. And best of all it's super dooper easy and consists of stuff you probably already have on hand. I served it the other night at the dinner club party beside a Carvel ice cream cake. And guess what? All of my pie was eaten and the ice cream cake wasn't. That says a lot! So, here ya go:

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of sugar

3.5 Tbsp of cocoa

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 stick of margarine or butter

1 small can Carnation milk (I never have this so I just use half of a cup of regular milk)

1 tsp vanilla

1 unbaked pie shell

Now just dump it all in a bowl and mix it up really well so there aren't any lumps. For those of you who like to hand mix with a spoon, I would not recommend this. It really needs to be mixed by an electric hand mixer or stand mixer to get all of the lumps out.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE!!! And voila! You have a really fantastic dessert!

Big Apple Day 4

2010-03-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

Mark didn't have class Friday so we slept in and then went for breakfast. See these things below? Several bakeries had these and I was just dying to try one. So, Mark and I each ate one for breakfast. Yum, yum. It was cinnamon and butter wrapped in a million layers of phylo dough. It crumbled and went everywhere, but was worth the mess. And the calories.Then I demanded that he go in the Toys R Us and see just how cool it was. NYC structures made out of Legos.
A giant Transformer. And many, many other things.
And then my one request, for lunch was that we eat at the Russian Tea Room. I'd heard celebrities mention eating there and such and wanted to try it.
Who orders this stuff??!! Not me!
It was, as Mark says, a "Fu-fu place". haha. I ordered some Russian Ravioli stuffed with seafood. I don't think I've ever had hand made from scratch ravioli. Oh, my goodness. It was so thin and delicious.
Carnegie Hall was next door.
And then we grabbed a cab and headed back to Laguardia where we sat for an hour out on the runway.

Just a note: Mark is the photographer of the family and since he would not relinquish the camera, most of the photos have me in them. So, in my defense: I tried to get the camera away and get more photos of him.

Big Apple Day 3

2010-03-28T02:29:00.000-07:00

I realized that Good Morning America was filming next door to where we were staying. It was pretty cool to see the test kitchen that they use. Their studio audience has to stand the entire time. That doesn't interest me in the least.
But I did get up early to try and get into The View studio audience (without success). There is a 2 year waiting period for tickets, so the best bet is to see if you can get in on stand by. I had to be outside the studio by 8 a.m. for tickets, and then they give you a pink paper with your number on it. (see below)
I was number 15. We had to go hang out at Starbucks until 9:30 when we would go back and find out if we were getting in. Around 10 a.m. they said that they already had a full studio audience with the regular ticket holders so absolutely NO stand by people got in. Bummer. But neat to see how it worked. Honestly, I don't think I'd bother doing it again.
Here's the intern in the blue coat that was responsible for getting people in and such. So, I walked over to Central Park and on the way I passed the building where Regis and Kelly are filmed (except they were in Vegas for the week). Then I hopped back on the subway and went to the hotel. I waited for Mark to get out so we could have lunch. Then I just took a nap and rested the rest of the afternoon. We were going to have a rather late night because we had tickets to a Broadway show: Jersey Boys.
We had dinner at Angus McIndoe, across from Phantom of the Opera. It was good. Our reservation was at 6 p.m. and we were all done by 6:35, LOL. We are rather fast eaters! We headed to a Starbucks and had some dessert and coffee and just hung out until 7:30 when we had to be at the theatre. Now, I know some of you reading this have seen Jersey Boys. Man, it was really good! Some profanity in it, but still REALLY good. We were on the way back to the hotel and I told Mark "Boy, I sure do feel sorry for Frankie Valli." Mark said "Yeah, I feel like he's just trying to pay his light bill." Hahaha. Of course, I had to go back and google how he's doing now. Apparently pretty good as he had a Manhattan apartment and a CA home. So, I stopped feeling so sorry for him.
I do remember about 15 years ago my parents taking me to see him at the Executive Inn in Paducah and he was REALLY good. I remember it well.

Big Apple Day 2

2010-03-27T02:49:00.000-07:00

Day 2 started out with me sleeping in and Mark going to his CLE course. I just hung around the room and did some blogging. Completely unaware that Good Morning America was taping in their studio next door and I could have totally been on tv if I had gotten up at the crack of dawn to stand in line. (I wouldn't have done it even if I had known.) I kind of milled around the area walking down to Fifth Avenue and seeing all of the shops there. Then coming back in time for Mark to get out of class. We had a reservation at, get this: a bbq place in NY. We just had to try it as it got great reviews. And it was fantastic!! And our waiter was from Durham, NC.

When we got finished we did some walking and picture snapping. First we went to see Grand Central Station (below) and the Chrysler Building (above).
Then, of course, who could skip a visit to the Empire State Building?

And the original Macy's (their biggest store).
The ABC building behind me. And no, I can't not check my phone for email, FB updates, twitter, etc.
One of the things Mark LOVES in NY is the warm, honey roasted peanuts they sell on the street. And he got himself some.
Times Square, the center of the universe. (isn't that what they say?)

The Big Apple-Day 1

2010-03-26T02:49:00.000-07:00

We have been in NYC this week but don't like to mention it on the blog while we're gone for security purposes. This has been a really really great trip.

We left Tuesday morning on Delta (no problems) and flew into Laguardia. Took a cab to Broadway where we were staying.....like 20 yards from the center of Times Square with all of the tvs etc. Very cool to be in the middle of it all. We did come to NYC a few years ago but were on a tight schedule and didn't get to see all we wanted to. We also stayed a good ways away from everything which meant a lot of time going to and from. So, I will recommend that if you do come, pay the extra money and stay in the heart of it all. You'll be glad you did.

So, once we got to the hotel we went back out immediately and bought a day pass on the subway. We ate lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and I must say their prices are quite inflated. We then went to the 9-1-1 memorial site. They are doing construction there and you really can't see much of anything. Our pictures aren't great either. There are fences everywhere with tarps covering the fences and police all over the place telling you to "move along". So, we did.

We moved along back onto the subway and over to Wall Street. Saw the NYSE (stock exchange) and other well known places there. We didn't go in because we hadn't researched how to do so, and the security was worse than going through the airport it seemed.Then back onto the subway and to Central Park. We had been to the southern part of Central Park before and it was really nice, but never to the northern part. So that's where we went. Yeah, we got off looked around and got right back on the subway. Not so nice. Made us a little nervous. So, we got off at 72nd street and walked through the park and over to Tavern on the Green, where I had wanted to eat. But hello! They went bankrupt and are closed down. Just my luck. Took a few pics and then kept walking. We decided to walk back to the hotel instead of ride, for the scenery.

We were walking by the Late Show with David Letterman and guess who walks out right at that time? Ben Stiller!!! He had finished taping and was leaving. The paparazzi clicked away at him and he waved a little and then got into his car. It was fast. So fast in fact that by the time I had realized it all we hadn't gotten our iPhones out to take pics. Ugh.

We walked to the Broadway area and found an excellent pizza place that served fantastic NY pizza. Yum, yum. And I'm not much of a pizza fan.

That pretty much ended our first day there.

All of these photos were taken on the iPhone so they're not the greatest quality.

Recipe Thursday: My Favorite Recipe Book

2010-03-25T02:22:00.000-07:00

I have decided to make Thursdays a recipe day. This is motivation for me to try new recipes, my friends. I am getting tired of the same things over and over: meatloaf, spaghetti, hamburgers, blah bitty blah. Getting bored with what you cook can lead to more eating out right? And that leads to more calories consumed and more money spent. So, even though I'm not posting an actual recipe today, (I will reveal my reason tomorrow), I wanted to share my most favorite entertaining recipe book. My mom got this for me for Christmas. I was a little hesitant at first because I figured "Oh, it's just going to be another cookbook that wants you to pull out your almond paste and Israeli couscous from the cabinet which NOBODY has got in their cabinet." Stuff you can't even ask your neighbors to borrow. But my peeps, this cookbook gets an A plus from me. Just like my mom said, it's stuff you HAVE on hand or can easily acquire at any run of the mill grocery store. The only thing I have found that it talks about a lot in the bread section is using rapid rise yeast which I have never done. But I bought some and I'll show you step by step, photo by photo my trial with it--haven't done it yet, but will!

So, starting next Thursday, we'll start cooking/baking!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-24T00:22:00.000-07:00

Our Babies. And they know it.

A little facelift for the house

2010-03-23T02:04:00.000-07:00

We decided that it was high time to do something about the green shutters and door on our house. Nothing at all wrong with green, it just looked a little dated on the house. So, we chose black. Mark did it all himself!! I really really like it.
Finished Product:
The side of the house: We are going to put shutters on those two windows too. Not sure why that was never on there before, but since we live on a corner, it really does need to be done.

Yawn.....Monday has rolled around again.

2010-03-22T06:52:00.000-07:00

Coffee. How does anybody make it without coffee?! I have been in a blogging slump lately for a few reasons: my computer died, so I finally got a new laptop. A MAC!! And I LUV it! It's totally different from using a PC, but in a good way. The other reason is that I have just been doing so much overtime at work. They finally have hired more practitioners and now I will just work 30-35 hours a week, hopefully though the summer. I was getting a tad burned out. To where when a patient began telling me their symptoms/problems I just felt like putting my head down on the desk. Yeah, that's not a good thing. The vacation/cruise helped a little but I worked right up until the day we left and went right back the morning after we got back so spending lots of time traveling on both ends....heck, you need like a day to recooperate! And most of the week all Mark and I felt like doing was just trying to catch up on sleep! By Friday on the trip we looked at each other and said "I FINALLY feel rested".

So, I am off again this week (thankfully) and have GOT to get this house back in shape today. And guess what else? I promise to have a blog post up every. single. day. this week!

Row, Row, Row your boat

2010-03-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

See what we went and bought this morning? Two kayaks. That's right. Something I thought I'd never do, turned out to be pretty fun when we went sea kayaking in Haiti. Since we live about 10 mins from a good size lake, this would be something fun that Mark and I can do on the weekends---that sort of involves exercise. It took about 15 minutes to get them all strapped up on the car and maybe we'll get a little quicker with it.
Our neighbors are thinking of buying some kayaks as well and they came over right away to check them out. Little Simon especially liked the kayaks.....being pulled around the yard in them.

Will let you know as soon as we try them out!

Random trip photos

2010-03-17T02:51:00.000-07:00

Labadee, Haiti

2010-03-16T02:44:00.000-07:00

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

2010-03-15T02:00:00.000-07:00

We went to an island I had never even heard of: Tortola. It was a very neat place. Very small, and there really wasn't much to do there. So, we didn't spend much time off the ship. Shopping in Tortola:
A man with his donkey wanting to charge for pictures with his donkey.
Mark with the ship in the background:
Next up: Labadee, Haiti

St. Maarten

2010-03-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

St. Maarten was a repeat trip for us as well. But oh, how pretty the island is. It has excellent beaches, good shopping, friendly people and an awesome restaurant. The photos aren't coming up exactly in the order I wanted but I'll start with telling you that we were given a recommendation to eat at Chesterfield's last year and we did so. And boy was it good! So, we went back for lunch this year and ordered the exact same things we had last year: Hurricane Shrimp and Conch Fritters. Mmmm.....good. We found a couple of beach chairs and an umbrella to rent so we just hung out on the beach for a couple of hours.....and I got fried on half of my body. Made for a painful rest of the trip.
The water is such a beautiful shade of blue here. The beach got pretty crowded after a while and we left.
You cannot imagine all of the shopping here. It is insane! They have killer deals on jewelry too....but I did not buy any.
And just imagine my breaking heart to see a stray kitten on our walk to the beach. It was so thin. There was a Humane Society store and woman who we told about the cat and she said she'd send someone over to see about it. I hope she followed up on that.
Next stop: The island of Tortola.

Carribbean Cruise 2010

2010-03-13T06:57:00.000-08:00

We're back! The past month has just been a blur as work has consumed us almost completely. But we did get a break and went on a week long cruise. A MUCH needed break. It sort of served as a combination cruise for my CMEs, Mark's birthday and our anniversary. Our first stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico. Which, if you remember, was a stop on our last cruise. While it really is beautiful, there's not much to do there because it's just simply a city in paradise.

When we toured the fort on our last trip, we could see a beautiful above ground cemetery in the distance with a lighthouse overlooking it right by the ocean. We vowed on our next trip there to walk over and see it. So we scampered off the boat and went on an up hill walk to the summit of the city to find it.After a bit of walking, we found it!! There's the lighthouse and the super cool cemetery. Apparently it was quite a tourist stop for lots of people.

Snow Fun!

2010-02-07T17:26:00.000-08:00

Recently we got snowed in for a weekend. Which really, was quite fun. It started coming down right when we got back from Blockbuster--you can't be snowed in without movies! We made a caramel pie together and stayed up later than our bedtime Friday night. There was a huge blanket of snow the next morning, followed by some sleet. Now, this made the hill in front of our house that much better to sled down. We have the best hill in this section of the neighborhood so kids were coming from many streets over to sled.
I made some chicken enchiladas and took them next door to my neighbor who had just had her baby and held the baby for a while before the neighbors across the street came over with their baby for dinner. After dinner, and when the neighbors put their baby to bed, they called us and we all went out in front of our houses and sledded down the hill while it was dark....ya know, and nobody could tell it was a group of thirty somethings playing in it all. Ahem. And just so you know, they had the baby monitor with them.
The next morning, Mark had all he could stand with being housebound, so we took off on icy roads to Home Depot where looked at everything. in. the. store. Twice. I don't care to go back there for a while. We went back to the neighbors' house for dinner where they had a great tortellini/sausage/pea dish that I unsuccessfully tried to duplicate for dinner tonight.
Recipe:
-Bertolli tortellini (Hmm....I have some frozen tortellini. Not Bertolli, but Mama Geno's. )
-Applewood Smoked Sausage, cut in slices (I have Kielbasa sausage instead)
-Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese (I used Grated Parmesan cheese)
-Frozen Peas (Yes! I have this exactly!)

Mix together and serve. Except mine tasted nothing like theirs. Ingredient substitution does not turn out well.

So, here's some photos of some kids sledding down the hill in front of our house. Taken form the inside of our warm house.

And then we got up and went to work the next day. The End.

January Dinner Club: Bowling

2010-01-19T16:55:00.000-08:00

Our January Dinner Club was not held at anyone's house. Instead we all took a break and met at a restaurant for dinner and then went bowling. I was not too excited about it, really. But it really did end up being a lot of fun. Well, except for the fact that out of our entire group I bowled the absolute WORST. If you know anything about bowling, you'll know that a 33 is rather bad to score. That was my score. I had gutter ball after gutter ball. Mark did really well though. It was a nice change to go out with everyone.

Edit: I did not notice that one of the men was picking his nose when I posted the photo. My husband just busted out laughing and figured I should make a note about this.

Dinner Club Christmas Party (Part II)

2010-01-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

Another reason that I LOVE the kitchen in this house is that there's plenty of room. We had 14 people stand around and maneuver comfortably in the kitchen during the beginning/appetizer course while still being able to cook/finish up preparing the meal.

Sprinkles knew Dawn was a cat person and he jumped right up into her lap. She loved it and so did he! But then Theresa (at the very end of the table--she got chopped off so you can't see her in this picture) wanted to hold Sprinkles --without his permission--and he scratched her. He has never done that to anybody in the five years we've had him so I have no idea what got into him!

One of the desserts we had was a mince pie that Kate brought. I had never had mince pie so I just HAD to try it. I don't really like it. At all. But I ate it! Every last bite--because she was sitting at the table with me.

Then came the White Elephant Gift Swap. I had originally sent out an email stating that we would be playing "Dirty Santa" and it got misinterpreted by the majority of the group. They thought that by "dirty" I meant raunchy, distasteful, off color gifts. Thankfully someone mentioned that in passing at Thanksgiving. I was absolutely appaulled that they would even think I would mention something like that! So I sent out an email clarifying what we would be doing and changed it to a white elephant gift swap.

Mark and I didn't have any white elephants laying around the house---one of the perks from moving nine times in ten years is that you get to purge your junk often. So we had to go and buy two. I went to Ross because you can find some bizarre and funny stuff there. So, I bought this terrible awful gift that is really completely useless: a back scratcher that dispenses lotion. Ha! The second gift was what Mark picked out himself and wanted to win it: a garden gnome that looks just like the little Travelocity guy. And you all will NEVER believe this, but it was the most stolen and most wanted gift in the swap!! Can you believe it? And Mark did end up winning it! If you click on the picture below it should enlarge so that you can see the gnome better.

It was a really fun night and everyone had a very good time.

Dinner Club Christmas Party (Part I)

2010-01-03T01:51:00.000-08:00

Mark and I hosted our dinner club's christmas party on Dec 19th. I've been trying to post this for some time now but have had trouble with Picasa. So, here it is. Picasa will only let me post 4 pictures to the blog at a time when I use them, so I'm breaking this up into two posts.

My parents sent me the BEST cookbook ever for my birthday and I made an appetizer from it.

I always hate when I go somewhere and have no idea what food is in the dish. So, my parents got me some really cool place card holders to use. I used the backs of Mark's old business cards to write the name of the food. So many people commented on how great this was!

Here's Mark doing some of the stove top cooking. I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful the new stove is. And the second oven in the bottom is pure heaven when I need to keep things warm or bake at a different temp.

This is another NP coworker of mine, Jean. No idea what we were discussing.

New Year's Eve

2010-01-02T06:10:00.000-08:00

We didn't spend New Year's Eve at a party, but rather we out to eat and then went to a hockey game. Mark got the firm tickets so we had fantastic 10th row seats. It is the one sport that I think it's beneficial to sit really close to the ice to see what is going on. We've had seats at pro football games that we around the 10th row and 50 yd line that I wouldn't give you fifty cents for because we were so close that I could not tell what was going on!! I was quite worried about getting hit in the head with a puck. The game was a lot of fun to watch, but I will admit that it is a tad violent as fights broke out on the ice several times. And the referees just let them hit each other! The rest of the night was relatively uneventful as we got home and watched the ball drop and then went to bed. The end.

If you have a weak stomach, skip this post

2010-01-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! This morning Miss Marble can running through the back door with a bird. Of course, she ran through the kitchen, under the dining room table and into the study where she dropped it. I screamed for Mark and then she picked it back up and ran into the entry hall and dropped it at the bottom of the stairs where she began plucking the feathers off of it. Blech. And I scream again for Mark. What does he do? He grabs the camera and starts taking pictures.

Are you totally grossed out yet? The mess has been cleaned up now.

Scenes from Christmas

2009-12-31T13:38:00.000-08:00

Mark's mom preparing our Christmas Eve dinner: Me getting a sentimental charm bracelet that was my mom's:

Holding little babies:

Family portrait:

Mark putting on his gift sweater from Dress Barn. (My grandmother got mixed up and apparently thought this was a man's sweater.)

The kitchen is almost done

2009-12-20T02:34:00.000-08:00

All that we lack is a range hood being built above the stove and Mark is going to do that sometime after Christmas. Right now I am just enjoying the construction being done. I have to say, the kitchen is definitely my favorite part of the house. There's lots of room and plenty of windows to let in light (in the breakfast nook).

The custom island we ordered arrived and it's just wonderful!! Notice that it houses the microwave.

Cookie time!

2009-12-19T02:30:00.000-08:00

I didn't get to bake anywhere near as many cookies as I did last year. And I LOVE to bake. So, I was kind of bummed about that. But it seems like work and social obligations have just sucked all of the time from this month so far.

Christmas decor

2009-12-18T02:38:00.000-08:00

I decided last year to decorate with all real greenery, fruit, trees, wreaths, etc. Why? Well, I do love the look and smell of it all, no doubt. But the real reason: I don't have to pack ANY of it back up and put it in the attic. It all gets tossed to the curb when I'm done. That's the BEST part of it. I have never ever liked decorating for Christmas. I can't explain it, but I just hate it. I enjoy the decorations once they're up, but detest having to do the decorating. Am I alone?

Backsplash!

2009-12-17T02:28:00.000-08:00

This has been quite a work in progress over the past month. We ordered the tile from a specialty tile shop that seemed to always be out of whatever we needed and had to order it. This tile shop is enormous. Mark and I walked through the entire store by ourselves and then met up a little while later after we scanned all of the tile. Can you believe that we both said that we had found ONE subway style tile that we liked and it was the exact same one!! We were also informed by the sales person that we had chosen the second most expensive tile in the store. Of course. It's great though. A cream colored Travertine tile. Mark is doing the backsplash himself and it looks fantastic!!!

Glass Cabinet

2009-12-16T02:24:00.000-08:00

Mark took the area above the old useless desk in the kitchen and made me a plate rack and then built two doors with glass inserts and then put lighthing in. Now we can showcase our Currier and Ives collection!

Almond milk

2009-12-15T07:39:00.000-08:00

Mark is lactose intolerant. (Too much information? hahaha) So we don't buy cow's milk, unless I'm having guests. We buy soy milk. But the other day at Harris Teeter, I looked beyond the Silk Soy milk I usually buy and found Almond Milk. I had never heard of it and thought I'd give it a try. I bought the vanilla flavored and plain flavored. Oh. my. goodness. This stuff was like a dessert drink. Kind of had a boiled custard sort of taste (the vanilla flavor). I don't think I'm going to be able to continue buying it though because I keep drinking it. And although it has the same calories as skim milk, it isn't calorie free. And I am liking it WAY too much. Have any of you tried this before?

Sprinkles got a friend

2009-12-14T16:50:00.000-08:00

This is the Quinns' son, Simon, who just loves Sprinkles. He was so incredibly excited when Sprinkles let him sit next to him last night. I just had to show you all the pictures. Simon got a little excited and starting hitting Sprinkles (from excitement) and Sprinkles got up and left. But it was so very cute!

Weekend Recap

2009-12-13T16:52:00.000-08:00

This weekend was really busy. Saturday morning started with a two hour breakfast meeting for me at Panera. Was buzzing from two huge cups of coffee by the time I left. Then I came home so we could run a thousand errands. Mark finished up kitchen renovations (almost) and I cleaned and cleaned and then got ready for dinner guests Saturday night. We had over one of my coworkers and her husband.

Today (Sunday) we drove to Chapel Hill to the Siena Hotel restaurant for Mark's firm brunch. Man, the food was GOOD. I ate entirely too much. The entertainment was the UNC Clef Hangers. All I can say is WOW. Here's a link to them on youtube...it's not from our brunch although Mark and I both videoed a little from our iPhones. And they did sing this very song. Let me mention that they make their own sounds. No instruments or additional music added. Completely A Capella.

Afterwards, we went by Sears to pick up the deep freeze we ordered a while back. I am so incredibly excited about getting this freezer. You certainly know you're an adult when you're thrilled about not only an appliance, but a boring appliance: a garage freezer. I love our refrigerator, it's the kind with the fridge on top and the freezer on the bottom. But it's just lacking a lot of freezer space that I felt like I had in our side by side fridge. So, I needed the extra space.

Then back to dinner preparation we went. We were having our neighbors over. We really have such great neighbors, lots of them. Mitch and Katie came with their 10 month old son Simon who has really become a whole lot of fun now. And he LOVES our cat, Sprinkles. We had a fantastic dinner with them.

Now we're just sitting here watching the movie "License to Wed" and trying to catch up on blogging. We have such an incredibly busy week ahead of us with a dinner party to host on Saturday night.

Is it really December already?

2009-12-06T06:35:00.000-08:00

This is a post where I'm just thinking out loud. My to do list just keeps getting longer and longer. We're hosting two Christmas parties this month and I have only one day off between now and the first party. So much to accomplish.

-Finish tiling the backsplash in the kitchen (this is more Mark)
-Finish building and hanging the glass cabinet door in the kitchen (totally Mark)
-seal the granite countertops
-buy all of the food and supplies for the party
-buy a Christmas tree and garland, etc
-make 3 wreaths for the doors
-decorate the tree and entire house
-clean the entire house
-bake lots of cookies and treats for the neighbors and also the party

Not a big deal, except ALL of this has to get done by/on Monday (tomorrow), my only day off. Tuesday thru Friday I'm working until 8 p.m. so those days are shot. And I'm sure there's more I forgot about. I was so tired yesterday when I came in from work at 6 p.m. I had a conference call meeting for an hour, then ate dinner and went to the wholesale store. Today I'm at work again. When I get home I'll try to drag Mark to the Christmas tree lot to get the tree so it's branches can relax before it has to be decorated.

Is anyone else a tad stressed?

Oh, yeah. I paid real money for this.

2009-12-05T02:29:00.000-08:00

A Snuggie. They had them on sale at CVS and my dad frequently gets cold. So, wouldn't this be just the most perfect solution? And it's made of fleece and there's few things hotter than fleece!

So, this is 31.

2009-12-04T02:38:00.000-08:00

Today I turned 31. It feels a whole lot like 21, really. I mean, where have the past few years gone? I had made a "life list" of things I wanted to accomplish by the time I was thirty. (insert a really big hearty laugh here.) Thirty was SO OLD just ten years ago. But now? Thirty is the new 20, right? I'm not bothering with making a life list of things to accomplish by the time I'm forty. If it's something I want to do, I figure I'll get to it. If I don't, then it must not have been something I really wanted to do too badly.

So, I'll be spending the day at work. Helping sick people be well again. I just hope somebody doesn't decide to give me the gift of illness.

Last one of the season

2009-12-03T03:36:00.000-08:00

This is the last (of the three) red peppers that we'll get this growing season. I honestly don't think I'm gonna fool with trying to grow anything next year. I had poor results all the way around. And I even bought those Aqua Globes to put in their containers so they'd never go thirsty! Yes, you have to grow things in a container here because the dirt is just clay under the topsoil. There are other options, but none of them very good for us. So, I'm trying to decide what recipe to use with this last pepper.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-12-02T02:02:00.000-08:00

How was your Turkey Day? Well, I had to work from 10a-2:30p (plus an hour of driving in there). I saw a never ending line of sick people who were truly sick. These people were really thankful that I was there to help them. And I even had a couple of people say "You are now on my thankful list":). It made me feel a lot better about having to work the holiday. But really, 10-2 wasn't so bad as there was still plenty of time to still celebrate Thanksgiving with a lovely dinner. We have no family here, but we are blessed with a multitude of friends. And one of those friends invited us to dinner!

Above is only half of the amount of food that was served. And the photo below is of Kate and Gill, the hosts. There was also another friend couple there along with the hosts' children.

We really have sooooo much to be thankful for.

Heading back home

2009-12-01T02:07:00.000-08:00

Our last night in Munich. Mark book a fantastic five star hotel right at the airport. So it was super dooper easy to catch the flight the next day!

This tub was, I swear nearly three feet deep. It was NOT easy to get in and out of to take a shower.

All of my passport stuff is ready to go! I also want to mention that we flew over Greenland and Iceland on the trip home. And a U.S. Air Marshall was sitting in front of us on the flight home. How do I know this as they conceal their identity? Well, because there was a ruckus on board on the way home and he had to step in and reveal himself. All was well in the end, but it was awfully cool to see somebody who was truly undercover.

Train ride back to Munich

2009-11-30T02:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon we headed to the train station to catch our train and go back to Munich where we would fly back to Chicago.

I bought several chocolate bars while in Zurich, because really how could I not? And I ate a whole chocolate bar on the 4 hour train ride back. Mmmmm. I also got some to bring back to some people too.

Studying what's going on outside his window.

Our stop in Austria. We went through that country for a little bit of the ride.

More Random Pics

2009-11-29T02:57:00.000-08:00

I thought it was really neat how they all have shutters on the windows. A few of them shut them at night too.

Downtown was cool in so many different ways.

Rowing Competition

2009-11-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Picking out my swiss watch! Honestly I had fully intended to buy one when we were there, but our tour guide and the internet confirmed that I can get it cheaper in the U.S.

A rowing competition was going on our last day in Zurich. It was actually really cool to see.

Notice the alps in the distance:

Last day in Zurich

2009-11-27T02:49:00.000-08:00

We spent our last day back in Zurich. We walked around parts of town we hadn't gone the day two days prior.

Everything looks old and gray, but in a really cool way.

And then we deposited some money in our Swiss bank account. Just kidding.

A Real Italian Dinner

2009-11-26T02:43:00.000-08:00

Veal marsala and of course Coke Light....in a wine glass none the less.

I had ordered fish, but somewhere it got lost in the translation. That's fine though.

I don't remember what the dessert above was called, but it was yummy. But not quite as good as the tiramisu was. Mmmmmmm..... But I could kick myself for going to Italy and NOT ordering gelato!!! What was I thinking??!!

More Italy

2009-11-25T02:41:00.000-08:00

Isn't this just what you envision when you think of Italy? A village on the hillside of water?

Italy

2009-11-24T02:36:00.000-08:00

We stopped just over the border into Italy and went to a restaurant that the guide recommended. It was not to eat, but just to sit and enjoy a beverage. Apparently in Italy they have siesta every afternoon from like 1-3pm (or is it 2-4? I don't remember) and everything totally shuts down! Then they start back up again. He said the stores stay open later though to make up for it.

Here's our tour guide, Marcello:

This was our view from the restaurant:

Southern Switzerland

2009-11-23T02:29:00.000-08:00

Just a few more pics of the alps:

Swiss Alps

2009-11-22T02:21:00.000-08:00

Driving through the alps was beautiful. All of the villages on the hillside were so quaint.

See the sheep on the hillside? They and the cows have bells around their neck. The Christmas ornament we chose to take back was one with a cow bell.....mainly because Mark loved it so much.

The alps:

Lucerne, Switzerland

2009-11-21T02:15:00.000-08:00

Lucerne is a gorgeous place to visit as well. Of course it was an extremely short visit there and most of our pictures are out of the van window. But, oh well.

This is one of the most photographed places in the world (per our tour guide).

Lucerne is famous for this photo.

Zug, Switzerland

2009-11-20T02:33:00.000-08:00

We chose to take a private tour to Zug, Switzerland, then through the alps and on to northern Italy, right outside of Milan.

According to our tour guide, Zug is one of the nicest places in Switzerland to live. It is quite beautiful.

The photos really just don't do it any justice. The leaves had just reached their peak about a week earlier, so we missed the height of their color. But it was still very lovely.

Random pics

2009-11-19T02:25:00.000-08:00

This is the vernicular, or elevator type thing that takes people from the lower part of the city to the top of the hill....the more residential area.

We decided to take a tour of the area. So, we walked down behind the train station to see what all they had to offer.

So, we got a brochure and headed over to Starbucks and were trying to decide which one we wanted to go on.

Looking thrilled, hahaha.

A night on the town (Zurich)

2009-11-18T02:00:00.000-08:00

Mark and I headed out around 5:30 p.m. in search of somewhere to eat dinner. Preferably a place that was NOT McDonald's but did not require a second mortgage on our home to dine there.

We found an Italian restaurant that seemed to fit the bill. For two plates of spaghetti and two bottles of coke light (they do not have diet coke here, it is called coke light per my photo) the bill was around $50. Seriously. But we did get out coke light served in wine glasses. LOL

Thought this was pretty funny: one spaghetti dish was called "Tennessee" no idea what all that stuff listed underneath it was.

And of course we found an enormous chocolate store. $7 for a candy bar. Yes, my friends. Imagine your little ones running in and begging, crying throwing a fit for one of those. And that's the cheaper stuff!!! I think we were most amused by the prices on everything, hence my listing them.